French President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed world leaders to the Elysee Palace in Paris on for an international conference seeking to map Libya's political and economic future.

The summit of 60 world leaders and top envoys is looking to free up billions of dollars in frozen Libyan assets worldwide to help the rebel opposition, and reconcile diplomatic differences over the NATO-led airstrike campaign that helped oust colonel Gadhafi.

The meeting is the first international gathering for the rebel-backed National Transitional Council (NTC) now that it has taken Tripoli and controls most of Libya.

The council is expected to present a detailed list of requests at the conference, which comes 42 years to the day after Gaddafi seized power in a coup.

Beyond discussions on Libya's political and economic future, former Gaddafi allies and those at the forefront of the Nato-backed rebel uprising jostled to cash in on Africa's top oil producing nation.